George Harrison said he didn’t enjoy his singing in The Beatles. He didn’t sing too much because John Lennon and Paul McCartney hardly allowed him to come forward with his songs. However, George’s singing wasn’t as bad as he thought. He was often overly critical of himself.
When George was a teenager, John Lennon and Paul McCartney asked him to join The Quarryman, later The Beatles. Like all teenage boys, George’s voice was changing, getting deeper. When The Beatles started their residency in Hamburg, Germany, George was still only 17 years old.
On Jan. 1, 1962, The Beatles auditioned for Decca Records. George got to sing one song, “The Sheik Of Araby,” a vaudeville tune from 1922. It was the first time George sang lead locals on a record, and he did it marvelously. His singing brought something new to the old song, but it was hardly the first time George had sung it. “The Sheik Of Araby” was a staple on stage in Hamburg and The Cavern Club.
There’s something so sophisticated about George’s voice in the song. He emphasized the lyric, “Well at nights when you’re asleep/ Into your tent I’ll creep,” and it works. It almost sounds like he’s trying to sing like Frank Sinatra or another 1950s singer.
George didn’t do much more singing for the band even after they signed their recording contract with EMI. However, when he did, his singing was always on point.
George didn’t like his singing
In 1987, George told Timothy White at Musician Magazine that he didn’t think his singing was that good in The Beatles.
“See, in The Beatles days, I never liked my singing,” George confessed. “I couldn’t sing very good. I was always very paranoid, very nervous, and that inhibited my singing.”
According to George, his singing didn’t get better once he left The Beatles.
During a 1989 interview (per George Harrison on George Harrison: Interviews and Encounters), Mark Rowland pointed out that some of George’s singing was reminiscent of Bob Dylan’s. He asked if George ever consciously tried to copy Dylan’s singing voice. George initially agreed because Dylan had a massive influence on him. However, George then said he didn’t imitate Dylan, despite that.
“Oh, yeah…. It’s probably just ’cause my voice is so bad,” George explained. “Consequently, over the years I’ve always listened to his music, and I’ve never tried to imitate. I have just as a joke sometimes. I think, basically, being born in Liverpool, you have this nasal sort of kind of thing.”
George told Ray Martin in 1988 (per George Harrison on George Harrison) that working with Jeff Lynne on his 1987 album, Cloud Nine, made him want to try harder on his vocals.
“As to the performing and singing, being in better voice, I’ll tell ya, Jeff Lynne, who coproduced the album with me, has got such a good voice that it made me really want to try hard, you know, to do some decent vocals, and I think they’re sort of quite good,” George said. “Not bad, anyway. I think it’s the reason of Jeff being there, you know, during the production that helped me try harder.”
George was often critical of his singing, but he had one of the best voices in rock ‘n’ rol
He had one of the best singing voices in rock
There was one time when George’s singing was not at its best, but it wasn’t his fault. During his 1974 Dark Horse American tour, George had laryngitis; before that, he’d overworked his voice while recording. So, critics dubbed it the Dark Hoarse Tour.
Besides that, though, George’s voice was always great, even if he didn’t always think so. For instance, in “Long Long Long,” George has impeccable range. He starts low but intense and increases pitch and volume during the chorus. In “My Sweet Lord,” George sings with such passion it makes one get goosebumps listening to it.
Songs like “All Things Must Pass,” “Awaiting On You All,” “What Is Life,” “Got My Mind Set On You,” and “Isn’t It A Pity” are all great examples of George’s range too. When Geoge wasn’t singing, though, he let his guitar sing for him.
